Connetquot board approves five‑year, 8‑gig internet service agreement after technical briefing

The Connetquot Central School District on June 11 voted to approve a five‑year multi‑year service agreement that will upgrade the district's core internet connectivity to an 8‑gig circuit intended to serve all school buildings and the central office.

Administrators framed the upgrade as necessary for digital testing, cloud‑based instruction and reliable video streaming. Elizabeth Weiss, the district’s director of instructional technology, explained the three listed addresses in the contract are distribution hubs (the high school, Cherokee and central office) that interconnect district buildings via fiber. "Think of the high school and Cherokee like the routers and then those are the distribution points to all the other buildings," said Scott Halford, coordinator of technology, describing redundant fiber paths and phone PRI lines used for district voice services.

Weiss and Halford told trustees the 5‑year offer provides a lower rate for the 8‑gig circuit compared to state contract pricing for 5‑ or 10‑gig options, and that the contract includes redundancy through multiple physical paths. Trustees asked whether central office could be excluded; administrators said separating central office would require additional circuits and infrastructure not currently in place and could increase costs.

The multi‑year agreement was placed on the consent agenda following the presentation and was approved by the board; the formal consent vote was recorded later in the meeting. Trustees asked administration to provide a clearer itemization of costs tied to individual buildings before final invoicing and to confirm termination/transition timing for the district’s existing one‑gig service to avoid duplicate charges.

What happens next: Administration said it will provide more detailed cost allocations for the board’s review and coordinate contract termination of the prior one‑gig service once the new circuit is operational.